Judgment is due next week in extradition case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

View full sizeLefteris Pitarakis / APWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a Monday news conference in London.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will learn next week of the verdict in his fight against his extradition to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual misconduct, the organization said Thursday.

WikiLeaks staffer Joseph Farrell said that Britain’s High Court had informed Assange it will deliver judgment on his appeal on Nov. 2. “The court told us. We have no further details,” Farrell said in a text message.

In February, a judge ruled that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation against two women. Lawyers for Assange filed an appeal at the High Court, and insist the activist would not receive a fair trial. Britain’s Royal Courts of Justice could not immediately be reached to confirm details of next week’s hearing.

Allegations against Assange date back to a visit to Sweden in August 2010, shortly after the activist’s organization had released secret U.S. files on the war in Afghanistan. Assange became involved with two women — one of whom later accused him of coercion and molestation, another of whom alleged that he had had sex with her as she slept. Swedish prosecutors have not charged Assange with any crime, but have demanded that he returns to Scandinavia to face questions about the case.

Assange, who was briefly detained in prison custody, has been living under curfew at a supporter’s rural mansion in eastern England while he has contested the demand for his extradition. The activist has been made the subject of an overnight curfew, must wear an electronic tag and report to police daily.

Assange has claimed the Swedish case is being politically manipulated following his organization’s disclosure of classified U.S. documents.

At an appeal hearing, Assange’s lawyer Ben Emmerson acknowledged that the women involved in the case may have found sex with his client “disrespectful, discourteous or disturbing.” But Emmerson insisted it had been entirely consensual and wouldn’t be illegal in the context of English law. “The conduct that is complained of would not constitute a crime in this jurisdiction,” he said.

Assange had previously vowed to take his case to Britain’s Supreme Court or the European Court of Human Rights if his appeal is rejected by the High Court.